The Arizona officer should consider himself lucky to be alive after his encounter.

COUNCIL CHRONICLE – An Arizona police officer had a close encounter with death while responding to a domestic incident on Friday. The officer was shot in the abdomen by a 51-year-old. His police belt stopped the bullet.

Arizona Officer Lucky to Be Alive After Near Miss

Meet Nathan Stout, a police officer at the Tucson Police Department. Apart from being a model law enforcement agent, Stout also has quite a compelling story.

As Stout revealed, on Friday night, they’ve received a call from a man who claimed his stepfather threatened him inside a bar.

The man told the 911 operator that the assailant, 51-year-old Roy King, entered the establishment and brandished a firearm before leaving.

Officers Nathan Stout and Steven Clark were sent to King’s house to investigate the allegations. When Stout and Clark arrived, they saw King’s car parked in front, and the man skulking around back.

King opened fire soon after the saw the Arizona officer and his colleague approaching his front door. During the fire exchange, Stout was hit in the abdomen.

Fortunately, his belt stopped the bullet. Stout and Clark returned fire, making King retreat to the house.

Hours later, the police officers arrested the suspect, after convincing him to surrender.

Greenwood Police Department recently tackled a most unusual case involving a man with ‘snakes’ in his pants. The suspect was arrested on Saturday while running naked down Kirksey Drive. Police declared that the naked man appeared intoxicated.

Naked Man Was Running Away from Imaginary Snakes

On Saturday, at 4:30 a.m., the authorities were contacted by a group of motorists who claimed to see a naked man running.

Upon arriving at the location, the authorities identified a 56-year-old male with no clothes on. The suspect, later identified as Norman Wightman, told the cops that he was heading to a family member’s house when he felt something in his pants.

Believing that snakes might have crawled in his underwear, the man began to remove his clothes.

He also told the authorities that he could still feel the snakes biting his privates despite being naked.

According to the officers who took Wightman into custody, the suspect appeared intoxicated, having trouble articulating.

He was later transported to the hospital. The emergency room doctors examined Wightman’s private but found no snake bits.

After spending the night in the Greenwood hospital, the naked man received a clean bill of health and handed over to the authorities.

Wightman was charged with indecent exposure and booked into the Greenwood County Detention Center.

Curiously enough, according to the incident report, the naked man started to feel something was gnawing down there long before he put up a show for the motorists.

Conclusion

The authorities were not able to establish if the naked man consumed alcohol or drugs. Tox screen could take a couple of days, the county’s medical officer declared.

Meanwhile, the law enforcement officers are trying to get ahold of Wightman’s family member to verify his claims.

An unknown Brooklyn resident was hailed as a hero on Sunday morning after he subdued a homeless man. The suspect sucker punched two elderly women leaving Shoppers World, a grocery store located on Pitkin Avenue. Street surveillance cameras captured the entire scene.

On Sunday morning, at 9:45 a.m., several Brooklynites walking by the Shoppers World dialed 911 after witnessing two women getting punched by an unknown individual.

The suspect, later identified as 45-year-old Andreas Flores, a homeless man, was taken into custody.

A Pitkin Avenue surveillance camera captured the entire scene. The minute-long video shows an elderly woman with a cane waiting outside the grocery store. She’s later joined by her friend, who was pulling a blue trolley shopping bag.

They talk for a while after which they leave. As they’re walking towards the bus stop, Flores walks up to the woman with the grocery bag and pushes her head. The woman loses balance, falls, and hits her head against the wall.

Flores then casually walks towards his second victim whom he punches in the face. The continues his stroll but turns around quickly after hearing that someone’s was chasing him.

The man chasing Flores can be seen grabbing the aggressor by his jacket and knocking him to the ground.

Jacaira Baez, a 20-year-old woman, witnessed the incident. She said that the man wrestled with Flores until the authorities arrived.

Conclusion

Meanwhile, several bystanders went to help the two women get up. The paramedics took both to the Brookdale Hospital. They did not have life-threatening injuries, doctors declared.

The aggressor, a homeless man, was arrested and taken to the same hospital to undergo a full psychiatric evaluation.

The New York authorities arrested a 32-year-old bogus spiritual healer, accused of raping several members of his ‘flock’. According to the police report, the suspect willfully induced a miscarriage in one case, promising the victim he would cure her back pain.

Spiritual Healer Practice Santeria, an Afro-American Form of Healing

Last week, Christian Robles, a self-entitled spiritual healer was arrested and charged with several counts of sexual assault and terminating a pregnancy.

The suspect, who’s been running a spiritual healing clinic in his Longwood apartment, coaxed his victims into drinking various oil-based mixtures.

According to the investigators, the so-called wonder-cures used by Robles were meant to incapacitate his victims. Unable to defend themselves, the victims were placed on a bed, and their clothes cut off with a knife.

Throughout his ‘career,’ Robles raped two women and three men in his Longwood apartment. In one case, the spiritual healer willfully induced labor in a six-weeks pregnant woman.

Convincing the woman that he could cure her pregnancy-induced symptoms, the individual walked on the woman’s back and stomach several times. Later, the victim suffered a miscarriage.

Conclusion

Following Robles’ arrest, his patients and next-door neighbors were shocked to discover the guru’s dirty secrets. Melanie Cantararo, a woman who lives in the same apartment complex, told a local news outlet that she was mortified after hearing that Robles was arrested for rape and abortion.

The Longwood building complex resident described Robles as a profound individual, with a rich family life.

He practiced Santeria, which is an Afro-American religion that promotes healing through faith among others. Cantararo argued that people will now think less of Santeria after hearing what Robles did during his sessions.

The suspect’s children were taken into protective custody following the man’s arrest. Robles was booked into county jail on no bond.

To protect coral reefs, Hawaiian authorities are banning several chemicals used in sunscreens.

Coral reefs around the Hawaiian islands are essential elements of the underwater ecosystem. The reefs are important touristic attractions as well.

However, scientists recently discovered several chemicals found within many popular brands of sunscreen contain a couple of chemicals toxic to coral reefs. Namely, they detected oxybenzone and octinoxate.

To preserve and protect coral reefs, local lawmakers decided to pass a new legislation. This is designed to ban sunscreens containing the two chemicals in order to defend the island’s native ecosystems.

As it is, the ban’s target are the chemicals, not the sunscreens in themselves. Sunscreen is a very important protective shield against the sun and its potentially harmful effects.

The Need to Protect Coral Reefs, a Global Issue

Damage to coral reefs is not unique to the Hawaiian islands. The world’s largest coral reefs, the Great Barrier Reef off the coasts of Australia, have suffered substantial damage in recent years. This was mainly due to an increased water temperature but also because of human-made toxins and garbage.

Hawaii intends to prolong the life its underwater ecosystem with these new laws. However, these will not go into effect right away.

This should offer sunscreen manufacturers ample time to alter production and change the ingredients. All sunscreens sold in Hawaii must meet the newly designated requirements by 2021.

According to research conducted in 2015, nearly 14,000 tons of sunscreen lotion end up on the regional coral reef on an annual basis. The new measures to ban certain sunscreens or more precisely, certain chemicals in them, is an early protection measure.

Coral reefs have been increasingly more affected by bleaching. This kills the coral, which affects the hundreds of animal and plants dependent on it to survive. Researchers and humanitarians hope that this new ban will be just a first step to additional regulations.

Garbage and other contaminants continue to affect the ocean, as well. Some of it also reaches and remains in coral reefs, further damaging them.

The new laws did not receive much pushback from sunscreen companies. Many manufacturers selling such products in the Hawaiian islands already offer chemical-free sunscreens, so conforming to the new regulations will not take long.

It’s expected most companies will comply with these regulations well before the 2021 deadline as the banned chemicals are removed from store products.

The authorities recently arrested a 17-year-old Wadsworth month in connection with the disappearance and murder of an elderly woman from the same city. Allegedly, the Ohio teen, who was found and arrested in his Cleveland apartment said he had no notion of how the 98-year-old woman died.

Ohio Teen Attempted to Conceal Victim’s Body in Closet

Last week, some of Margaret Douglas’ friends contacted the authorities as the woman was nowhere to be found. The 911 recording reveals that Douglas was last seen alive four days prior to the call.

A police officer was dispatched to Douglas’ Wadsworth home. After inspecting the premises and the inside of the house, the authorities did not find any evidence of kidnapping. However, upon approaching the woman’s bedroom closet, the officer that something was hidden beneath a pile of clothes.

Upon removing the pile, Margaret’s body was discovered. The paramedics declared the woman dead at the scene.

Following a crime scene investigation, the detectives determined that the woman wasn’t alone in her home when she died but with a 17-year-old male.

On Monday, the police officials found and arrested the suspect. Since he’s a minor, murder charges were not filed.

The authorities refused to disclose any details about how Douglas or the suspect are related. A Wadsworth Police Department spokesperson declared that more information would become available after the county’s coroner will finish the woman’s autopsy.

Furthermore, it’s not yet clear if the Ohio teen killed Douglas and attempted to conceal her body or if the woman died of natural causes.

Since the arrested man is a minor, the case has been forwarded to the Medina County Prosecutor’s Office. Based on the police report, it would appear that the suspect acted alone and that the woman probably died over the weekend.

The Houston mother confessed to going back to sleep after giving birth and ditching newborn in flowerbed.

A 22-year-old Houston mother was sentenced on Tuesday to four years in prison for abandoning her newborn girl in a flowerbed, minutes after giving birth in her apartment. The infant was discovered by one of the woman’s neighbors, who was on his way to work that morning.

Newborn of Houston Mother Covered by Dirt and Ants

The events that will ultimately lead to the arrest of 22-year-old Sydney Woytasczyk, a Houston mother, began to unfold back in August.

At 5 in the morning, Albert Peterson, one of Woytasczyk’s neighbors was on his way to work, when he heard a strange sound coming from a bush. At first, the man thought that it was just a stray cat meowing for food and attention.

However, after taking a closer look, Peterson made a startling discovery – instead of a cat, the man found a newborn girl, abandoned in the flowerbed and covered in ants and dirt. The man called 911 and told the operator about the infant.

Fortunately, the authorities managed to save the life of the infant. Meanwhile, during the investigation, the officers discovered a blood trail which led them to a nearby house.

No one answered the door, at first but the officers were later greeted by a couple who refused to cooperate, stopping the officers from entering the house. After a couple of minutes of arguing, the Houston mother showed up and confessed that she’s the newborn’s mother. Woytasczyk was taken into custody and charged with abandonment of a minor under 15.

During her police interview, the Houston mother told the authorities that she woke up that night, gave birth in the kitchen, and cutting the umbilical cord with a knife before placing the newborn in the flowerbed.

Conclusion

According to the doctors, the newborn is pretty much alive and kicking after they’ve managed to cure her bacterial infection, more than likely contracted after her mother cut the umbilical cord the wrong way. The baby girl also had a minor contusion, the doctors claiming she was dropped on the kitchen’s floor.

A new map of the old Universe revealed around 4,000 unknown or early galaxies.

Our Universe came into existence almost 14 billion years ago, and now astronomers have pinpointed some 4,000 galaxies that were among the first to arrive on the scene. They were able to pinpoint their existence thanks to a new large-scale map of the universe – one of the most complex ever put together.

Astronomers Use Cosmic ‘Slicing’ Technique To Create New Map Of Early Universe

It’s likely the young galaxies formed in a time frame of 11 billion to 13 billion years ago. Namely, they appeared about a billion years after the Big Bang expanded from a point of absolute singularity. A billion years is just the blink of an eye in astronomical terms. It is apparently still plenty of time, however, for thousands of new star-strewn galaxies to form.

The light we see today from these early galaxies is essentially a time-machine window into the unimaginably distant past. It’s possible that none of the galaxies shown in the 3D large-scale map still exist today. The stars that compose the body of these galaxies likely burned out or went nova eons ago.

Astronomers can determine the age of deep space objects by measuring the “red shift” in their light spectrum. The farther light travels, the more it gets stretched out causing a shift toward the red end of the spectrum.

Studying these thousands of early galaxies can yield vital clues about how galaxies formed. Specialists believe they have found a significant difference in the youthful galaxies. They appear to have formed stars in “bursts” rather than steady formation steps.

The innovative new map of the Universe employed telescopes with calibrated filters that essentially “sliced” gathered imagery into 16 parts. It also did it in such a way that different time periods were highlighted. This was chosen over the idea of gathering a single “present-moment” snapshot of the distant regions of space.

It seems that the big noses of the Neanderthals helped them be more active.

Scientists taking advantage of 3D-modeling technology have been recreating “crash test” versions of Neanderthal skulls. Thanks to this, they now think they can explain why this extinct species of human beings had such a large nose.

The dominant facial structures of Neanderthals have long been a subject of interest and debate. The protruding brow ridge, the forward thrusting nose, and the weak chin would have made these people instantly recognizable as a different species of man.

Why Did the Neanderthals Have Such Big Noses

But why the difference? An obvious possible explanation is the bitter cold Ice Age environment they had learned to survive within for tens of thousands of years. That a large nose would be an advantage in breathing cold, dry air efficiently has been a popular suggestion.

But now it seems their big noses were no better at handling cold than our own.

Although the Neanderthal nose was found to be an efficient processor of cold air, scientists were surprised to discover that our smaller, modern-day human noses can do just as well. In some cases, these smaller noses might do even better than Neanderthals in frigid conditions.

Scientists also made a comparison with an early extinct human species, the Homo heidelbergensis. Here, the Neanderthal nose was clearly superior for cold-air breathing vis-à-vis our extinct relative.

So why did Neanderthal need those big noses? Further tests may have provided the best possible explanation. It turns out that the wide nostrils of Neanderthal made them world champion breathers.

That is, the sheer amount of oxygen they could move in and out of their lungs scored off the charts. Their breathing was easily twice as powerful as that of the Home sapiens sapiens.

This superior ability to oxygenate their bodies meant that Neanderthal would have had enormous stamina. This would have especially contributed to their ability to run over long distances, and also for long periods of time. It would have been helpful in hunting, as well as in keeping constantly active to stay warm in extreme cold.

“The take-home message from this is that the distinctive, projecting Neanderthal face is an adaptation linked with an extreme, high-energy lifestyle,” stated a researcher involved in the study.

Scientists theorize that life forms might exist in the clouds of Venus.

Life on the planet Venus seems almost impossible. However, a study recently published in the scientific journal Astrobiology puts forth a new hypothesis. One that proposes that forms of life may live within the heavy cloud cover that blankets this planet.

It is believed, based on computer models of the planet’s evolution, that conditions on the surface were not always so unfavorable. Scientists also consider that Venus might have once been possibly able to support life on its surface.

Current observations show that UV light is being absorbed before it reaches the surface of the planet. As it is, this phenomenon cannot be accounted for on a purely chemical basis. The Astrobiology study expounds on ideas first proposed back in 1967.

These claim that as conditions on the surface of the planet became unfavorable for life on the ground, microscopic forms of life began to colonize the clouds of Venus. These could now be absorbing the UV light that hit the planet.

Although no water has been found on the surface of Venus, water vapor is plentiful in the atmosphere. The temperatures there are also presumably within the range that could support life.

Venus seems an unlikely place to find signs of life due to its harsh conditions. However, it has been theorized that microorganisms living in the clouds may account for the long-observed absorption of UV light. If science manages to prove there are, indeed, lifeforms on Venus, it may help us learn more about the evolution of life on Earth.